Cyclist Liane Lippert surprisingly won the 2nd stage of the Tour de France women decided for itself and thus ensured a premiere.
Liane Lippert threw her arms up and could hardly believe her luck. The 25-year-old from Team Movistar won the 2nd stage of the Tour de France Femmes.
On the 148-kilometer section between Clermont-Ferrand and Mauriac, which had a profile similar to that of a classic, Lippert prevailed over the last few meters in the sprint of the leading group. Six categorized mountains had to be overcome on the roads of Auvergne, the last one ended just over a kilometer and a half before the finish line.
Biggest achievement of career
It is the first victory of a German rider ever in the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes. Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky finished second and retained the yellow jersey. Third place went to Silvia Persico from Italy.
“I’ve waited so long for a win. And at the Tour de FranceThat’s incredible”, said Lippert about the biggest success of her career so far. In the overall standings, Lippert improved to second place, now 49 seconds behind.
Lots of outliers
Breakaway groups had repeatedly formed on this stage. Right at the beginning, after a good 18 kilometers, it was Georgia Williams from New Zealand and Hannah Ludwig from Germany who pulled away from the peloton as a duo. After 98 kilometers both were caught again after hard work and lined up again.
As a result, however, things became restless in the field. Again and again a few riders tried to break away. Anouska Koster, Julie van de Velde and Soraya Paladin, for example, tried their luck but were caught early again.
Peloton waited a long time
Then it was Yara Kastelijn from the Netherlands, who vehemently pedaled after 112 kilometers and gained a lead. Eva van Agt and Anouska Koster joined Kastelijn four kilometers later – the three of them were able to extend the gap to the peloton to just over a minute. And the three racers proved to be extremely tough in the rain that set in late.
And the field held back, reluctant to close the gap. And so the peloton rolled along without the leading trio having to worry too much about feeling real pressure on their necks.
energy performance by Lippert
Again and again the drivers fell on the wet and apparently very greasy asphalt. Kastelijn had missteered in a curve after a descent and almost fell. Van Agt, on the other hand, had a bad fall and slipped under a crash barrier. Details of the accident were not initially known. However, as her team Jumbo-Visma later announced via Twitter, Agt was conscious and taken to the hospital for further investigation.
With 4.4 kilometers to go, the field swallowed up the two remaining breakaways. In the end, Lippert, who had held back in the field up to that point, prevailed with an energetic performance in the final meters.